After a few days in Cinque Terre we were packing again, this time to go to Bologna. It was a multiple-trains journey. While I had not bothered buying Regionale tickets ahead of time, I did have tickets for Parma-Bologna on which I scored a good online price on. The small problem? Trains serving Cinque Terre always ran late – at least that was the case when we were there, even for those at 7.30am! – and we did not want to risk missing our connection.

We therefore found ourselves leaving Vernazza/La Spezia on earlier local trains and had a couple of hours to kill in Parma. Thinking we could pull something similar while visiting Florence, we were excited to see the town that lends its name to the famous Italian prosciutto. One strategical error: it was a Sunday when just about everything was closed, bar a few restaurants/cafes; one unexpected hurdle: the train station was under works and so no left luggage service could be found.

We tried to make the best of it anyway, got lost in Parma’s small historical centre, while dragging a luggage behind us. With the doors of even the duomo and the Steccata shuttered – although we did stumble across another small church that was not uninteresting – we ended up at a small cafe for a long lunch before strolling back to the train station. We had no idea what else we could do, since it wasn’t a town I’ve done even bare research into. A few photos of what we saw is the best I could offer for now.

There were a few people around, mostly families out for their Sunday walks. Otherwise, things were as quiet as can be expected from any town where businesses enjoy their day of rest. We had no delicious shops to pop into to grab some local ham (what a shame) and we did not spot a gelateria either, so no ice cream. That would have to wait until we get into Bologna, which I’ve dubbed “the city of a few thousand columns”.